1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to manufacturing floral sleeves, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method of manufacturing a plurality of floral sleeves with an ornamental design printed on only a portion of each floral sleeve.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Sleeves used for wrapping floral groupings and potted plants are well known in the art. Such sleeves are generally fabricated of a flexible sheet material and have an open upper end and an open or closed bottom end. The flexibility of the material permits the sleeves to be expanded into a frusto-conically shaped tube and to be flattened into a trapezoidally shaped configuration. Sleeves can be formed from a pair of webs, a single folded web, or a tubular web. Regardless of the form of the material used, overlapping portions are transversely sealed together to form a pair of sealed edges extending from the upper end of the sleeve to the bottom of the sleeve. To reduce waste, sleeves are formed so as to be inverted relative to the adjacent sleeves and so that adjacent sleeves share a common edge. The web is then cut along the sealed edges to form the sleeves.
In the manufacturing of sleeves, it is often desirable that the sleeve be provided with decorative designs or patterns on a lower portion of the sleeve while leaving the upper portion of the sleeve relatively unobstructed for viewing of the floral grouping through the sleeve. Problems have been encountered in the manufacture of sleeves with printed lower portions, however, in that the printed design is not printed uniformly about the entire lower portion of the sleeve. That is, an unprinted section or strip remains adjacent the sealed edge. Alternatively, the printed design on the lower portion overlaps onto the upper portion of the adjacent sleeve.
In an effort to overcome the above mentioned problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,252, issued to Scott Robert Gilbert, discloses a method of forming a plurality of floral sleeves that do not have unprinted edges and which do not have printing overlap in the upper portion thereof. However, this method requires that a significant amount of material be wasted in that an amount of material for forming more than one half a sleeve every other sleeve formed is discarded.
To this end, a need exists for a method of forming a plurality of floral sleeves having a uniform design or pattern imprinted circumferentially thereabout without requiring the waste of significant portions of sheet material. It is to such a method that the present invention is directed.
The present invention is directed to a method of forming a plurality of sleeves wherein each of the sleeves has an upper portion and a lower portion, with the lower portion having a printed portion extending continuously about the circumference of the lower portion of the sleeve, the method comprising providing a first web portion having a plurality of successive printed portions extending along a longitudinal axis of the first web portion in a staggered, inverted relationship and a plurality of corresponding unprinted portions. Each printed portion of the first web portion has a top edge, a bottom edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge. The first and second side edges of each printed portion of the first web portion is angled outwardly from the bottom edge to the top edge and the first side edge of each printed portion is coextensive with the first side edge of one of the adjacent printed portions. The second side edge of each printed portion is coextensive with the second side edge of the oppositely adjacent printed portion.
A second web portion is provided. The second web portion has a plurality of successive printed portions extending along a longitudinal axis of the second web portion in a staggered, inverted relationship and a plurality of corresponding unprinted portions. Each printed portion of the second web portion has a top edge, a bottom edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge. The first and second side edges of each printed portion is angled outwardly from the bottom edge to the top edge. The first side edge of each printed portion is coextensive with the first side edge of one of the adjacent printed portions and the second side edge of each printed portion is coextensive with the second side edge of the oppositely adjacent printed portion.
The first web portion is positioned on the second web portion such that the printed portions of the first web portion are superimposed over the printed portions of the second web portion and such that the unprinted portions of the first web portion are superimposed over the unprinted portions of the second web portion.
Finally, the first and second web portions are sealed and severed along lines defined by the coextensive first sides edges and the coextensive second side edges of each of the printed portions thereby forming a plurality of sleeves wherein each sleeve has an upper portion and a lower portion with the lower portion having a printed portion extending continuously about the exterior circumference of the lower portion of the sleeve while the upper portion is free of any printing contained in the lower portion of an adjacently formed sleeve.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of forming a plurality of sleeves by providing a pair of web portions. The first web portion has a plurality of successive printed portions extending along a longitudinal axis of the first web portion in a staggered, inverted relationship and a plurality of corresponding unprinted portions Each printed portion of the first web portion has a top edge, a bottom edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge The first and second side edges of each printed portion is angled outwardly from the bottom edge to the top edge and the first side edge of each printed portion is substantially aligned with the first side edge of one of the adjacent printed portions and the second side edge of each printed portion being substantially aligned with the second side edge of the oppositely adjacent printed portion.
A second web portion is provided having a plurality of successive printed portions extending along a longitudinal axis of the second web portion in a staggered, inverted relationship and a plurality of corresponding unprinted portions is provided. Each printed portion of the second web portion has a top edge, a bottom edge, a first side edge, and a second side edge. The first and second side edges of each printed portion are angled outwardly from the bottom edge to the top edge. The first side edge of each printed portion is substantially aligned with the first side edge of one of the adjacent printed portions and the second side edge of each printed portion is substantially aligned with the second side edge of the oppositely adjacent printed portion.
The first web portion is positioned on the second web portion such that each of the printed portions of the first web portion are substantially superimposed over a corresponding printed portion of the second web portion to form a plurality of superimposed pairs of printed portions and such that each of the unprinted portions of the first web portion are substantially superimposed over a corresponding unprinted portion of the second web portion to form a plurality of superimposed pairs of unprinted portions.
The first and second web portions are sealed and severed along a plurality of first lines and a plurality of second lines to form a plurality of sleeves wherein each sleeve has an upper portion and a lower portion, with the lower portion having a printed portion extending continuously about the exterior circumference of the lower portion of the sleeve while the upper portion is free of any printing contained in the lower portion of an adjacently formed sleeve. Each first line traverses each of the printed portions of one of the superimposed pairs of printed portions substantially proximate to the first side edges of the printed portions of the superimposed pair of printed portions and traverses each unprinted portion of a corresponding superimposed pair of unprinted portions substantially parallel and proximate to the first side edges of the printed portions of one of the adjacent superimposed pairs of printed portions. Each second line traverses each of the printed portions of one of the superimposed pairs of printed portions substantially parallel and proximate to the second side edges of the printed portions of the superimposed pair of printed portions and traverses each unprinted portion of the corresponding superimposed pair of unprinted portions substantially parallel and proximate to the second side edges of the printed portions of one of the oppositely adjacent superimposed pair of printed portions.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.